See Which States Top the 'Camelot Index'

The annual ranking combines health, economy, government performance and other factors.

Just about every news outlet thrives on releasing a never-ending stream of rankings of cities and states. The trend is best exemplified by Forbes, which has told us that Utah is the best state for business, Texas is the top state for jobs, and Vermont is the healthiest state.

But one study offers the grandaddy of all state rankings system: the Camelot Index.

The annual report appears this week in State Policy Reports, a newsletter published by Federal Funds Information for States, which tracks federal budget and spending information for state leaders.

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As FFIS writes, the index is "based on the premise that most people share a common set of preferences: fewer taxes are better than more, small class sizes are better than large, low death rates are better than high, less crime is better than more and so on."

The index contains 25 different metrics that are used to analyze states in six different categories that are weighted equally: economic health, residents' health, education, crime, state government prudence, and the health of society -- with includes factors like home ownership and voting rates.

A state that performed better than all others in every category would have an index score of 1, and a state that was the worst in all categories would have an index of 50.

North Dakota was the top-ranked state, with a Camelot Index of 7.0*. That's no surprise, given the state's booming economy due to the oil industry as well as its relatively low crime rates.

Rounding out the top five are South Dakota, New Hampshire, Nebraska and Wyoming.

The authors note that the states with the highest scores are among the least populated states in the country, and large numbers of people are not choosing to live there.

Louisiana has the lowest score of 41.0, largely due to poor marks for residents' health and crime rates. Oklahoma has made the most progress in recent years, advancing 11 slots in the aggregate ranking since 2007.

The authors also note that, given North Dakota's score, it's clear that no state is near perfect.

Rank

State

Camelot Index

1

North Dakota

7.0

2

South Dakota

9.5

3

New Hampshire

10.0

4

Nebraska

11.3

5

Wyoming

11.7

6

Iowa

12.2

7

Minnesota

12.7

8

Virginia

13.3

9

Idaho

13.7

10

Wisconsin

14.2

11

Utah

15.2

11

Vermont

15.2

13

Connecticut

17.0

14

Colorado

17.2

15

Washington

17.7

16

Massachusetts

18.3

16

Montana

18.3

18

New Jersey

19.7

19

Oregon

21.0

20

Maine

22.3

21

Alaska

23.8

22

Pennsylvania

24.2

23

Maryland

25.7

23

Missouri

25.7

25

Illinois

26.5

26

Kansas

27.3

27

North Carolina

27.5

28

Hawaii

28.0

29

New York

28.2

30

Rhode Island

28.7

31

Texas

29.2

32

Delaware

30.2

33

California

30.3

34

Oklahoma

31.2

35

West Virginia

31.3

36

Florida

32.5

37

Georgia

33.8

37

Indiana

33.8

39

Ohio

34.0

40

Michigan

35.8

41

Nevada

36.3

42

Kentucky

36.7

43

Mississippi

37.3

44

Alabama

37.5

45

Tennessee

38.0

46

Arkansas

38.2

47

Arizona

38.5

47

South Carolina

38.5

49

New Mexico

39.2

50

Louisiana

41.0

Note: A previous version of this article contained slightly different index figures due to an error in FFIS's initial report. FFIS has corrected its study, and this article reflects its updated numbers.